


Late Night at Swift's Apothecary

by EnchantressEmily



Category: Widdershins (Webcomic)
Genre: Fluff, Friendship, M/M, Nightmares, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-07
Updated: 2019-09-07
Packaged: 2020-10-11 12:34:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,177
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20546237
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EnchantressEmily/pseuds/EnchantressEmily
Summary: Eliza, Knotty, and Will get some time to catch up with one another.





	Late Night at Swift's Apothecary

**Author's Note:**

> Spoilers for Hangman's Knot.

Eliza brushed the chalk dust off her fingers, then stood back with her hands on her hips to admire the web of notes on the big blackboard. The Fourth Anchor Society was meeting tonight, and she was looking forward to sharing some new ideas sparked by her recent rummages through the police files.

Behind her Will moved about, straightening the shelves that had been disarranged by the day’s trade. Profits had gone up by a third since she had taken him on; he had a gift for talking people into buying things, and he was surprisingly conscientious about the work. Eliza suspected that there were a few customers who kept coming back simply to flirt with the handsome salesman, although she didn’t intend to mention this to Will; his head was big enough as it was.

To give him his due, there was a clear difference between his habitual flirty manner – which was what the customers got – and the way he was with Knotty. Anyone who saw how his eyes softened when Knotty walked in would never mistake the other kind of flirting for the real thing.

The sound of the shop door opening made Eliza frown. She had put up the “Closed” sign herself; couldn’t people read? “We’re closed,” she called without looking round. “Come back tomorrow.”

“Even if I’m n-not here to buy anything?” a familiar voice inquired.

Eliza turned, grinning. “Knotty! I was just thinking about you. C’mon in.”

Knotty closed the door behind him and stood on tiptoe to give Will a kiss. He was finally comfortable doing that in front of her, Eliza noted approvingly; she had lost count of the number of times she had entered a room to see the two of them hastily moving apart, as if she didn’t know perfectly well what they had been doing.

“To what do we owe the honor, Your Honor?” Will asked, picking Knotty up with both hands at his waist and spinning him around to deposit him on the barrier at the end of the counter.

“Will!” Knotty protested, blushing and laughing. “I just had a free evening, and I w-wanted to see both of you. I’ve been so busy with studying that we haven’t had much time lately for all of us to just sit and talk.”

“Sounds good to me,” Eliza said. “My meeting doesn’t start for a while yet. I’ll put the kettle on.”

They settled down with cups of tea, Eliza on her favorite perch on the counter and Will and Knotty in two of the chairs that were already set up for the meeting. Eliza was reminded of the night that Knotty had come to her in a desperate panic, handcuffed to an escaped prisoner, with a story about a mind-control spell and a missing essay. Judging by the glances Knotty and Will were stealing at each other and the tiny smiles they both wore, they were remembering it too.

“So how’re you doing?” Eliza asked, sipping her tea. “Besides busy.”

“F-fine, mostly. One of my classes is on magical law – I thought I’d better learn something about it, after what happened – and the textbook is really dry, b-but the way the lecturer presents it is fascinating. I might make that my specialty after I graduate.” Knotty’s eyes shone with enthusiasm.

Eliza loved seeing him like this; there was a lightness and ease about him these days that she hadn’t seen since he was thirteen and had first begun to realize exactly what stepping into his father’s shoes would entail. With a purpose to throw his heart into and the chance to give his considerable intelligence free rein, he was coming into his own.

“Is that Dr. Vane?” Will asked. “I never took that class, but everyone said she was a really good lecturer.”

Knotty nodded. “I think you’d like her too, Eliza. She sees c-connections between things the way you do.” He waved at the blackboard. “How’s your job going, by the way?”

“No mysteries to solve yet,” Eliza said regretfully. “And I still haven’t had any luck getting Captain Barber to talk to me about her sister. But honestly, just being around the police station is great. Everything that happens in Widdershins turns up in the files sooner or later.”

“There’s a terrifying thought,” Will commented.

“Are you kidding? It’s the best! All that information in one place, all the things the public doesn’t get to hear about –” Eliza saw Knotty leaning backward slightly and reined herself in. She knew her enthusiasm was sometimes a little overwhelming to her quieter friend. “Well, anyway. When you’re a famous lawyer, Knotty, I’ll go halves with you on all my detective cases. I’ll find out the facts, and you present them in court.”

“Alright,” Knotty said, smiling. “I d-don’t think I really want to be famous, though. I’d rather just have a small legal practice and a quiet life with – with s-someone I care for.” He was carefully not looking at Will, but a pink flush had risen under his dark brown skin.

Eliza took another drink of tea to hide her smile. “That might work even better, actually,” she said. “You’ll be like my secret weapon.”

“Meanwhile, I’ll be turning Swift’s into the most successful apothecary in Widdershins,” Will said, stretching out his long legs. “Did I tell you, Vincent? – I set up this promotional scheme last week that even my boss said was genius.”

“I did not,” Eliza said, grinning. “But it was a good idea. Don’t know why I didn’t think of trying something like it before.”

“Because you didn’t have my natural charm on hand to make it work,” Will said smugly. 

Eliza mimed a punch in his direction, and he smirked.

Knotty had fallen quiet while they bantered, gazing down into his half-finished tea. Something in his face brought back a remark that had been niggling at Eliza’s mind.

“Knotty, earlier you said you were ‘fine, _mostly_’,” she said, frowning. “What was that about?”

“Ah, I, um –” Knotty’s eyes, shifting away from hers, fell on the blackboard again. “I-is this for your m-meeting later? What are you p-planning to t-talk about?”

Even without her long familiarity with Knotty’s deflection tactics, the stutter would have told Eliza that something was wrong. He didn’t stutter nearly as much anymore, but it still came to the surface when he was flustered or upset. 

She set down her teacup. “Knotty. What’s the matter? I can see something is, so stop trying to distract me.”

Knotty was silent for a moment. “I – I think I should f-find my own lodgings instead of living in the dormitory,” he said, looking down. His hands gripped each other tightly in his lap. “I keep having n-nightmares and waking everyone up.”

Eliza didn’t need to ask what he was dreaming about. That had been pretty much the worst moment of her life, watching her best friend led onto the gallows by his unknowing father, and Knotty – nervous, sensitive Knotty – had had to actually live that experience. No wonder he had nightmares.

“They haven’t _told_ you to find other lodgings, have they?” she demanded. “They should be helping you, not turning you out!”

Knotty shook his head, the corners of his lips turning up just a little. “No, it’s m-my own idea. W-we all have s-so much work to do, and it’s not fair to k-keep everyone else awake just b-because I can’t sleep.”

And that was Knotty all over, Eliza thought with a touch of affectionate exasperation.

“Your dorm-mates might not mind as much as you think,” Will said, laying a hand on Knotty’s thigh. “You’ve got friends there, don’t you? I mean, call me biased, but it’s hard _not_ to like you.”

“I do have f-friends,” Knotty said quietly. His hand moved to rest on Will’s. “B-but it’s – they’re not – I can’t t-talk to them the w-way I can the two of you. Th-they wouldn’t understand about – about that n-night.”

Eliza slid off the counter and came over to give his shoulder a squeeze. “If you’re set on leaving the dormitory, what about moving back in with your dad?” she asked. “He’s got that nice little place now, and he’d be happy to have you.”

Knotty’s eyes widened. “No! I d-don’t want him to find out ab-about the nightmares. He already f-feels bad enough about nearly – n-nearly –” He swallowed hard.

“Okay, settle down. I won’t tell him.” Eliza frowned at the ceiling. “I’d offer to put you up here, but I just don’t have the room. There must be somewhere –”

Will cleared his throat. “I do have a suggestion, actually. My lodgings could accommodate a second person, if you’d care to have me as a roommate.” He flashed his most charming smile, drawing a surprised answering smile from Knotty.

“Really? B-but – Will, are you sure?”

“Of course. You don’t take up much space, and we spend half our free time together anyway.” Will paused, then added a little too casually, “And besides, I have nightmares most nights myself, so you wouldn’t have to worry about disturbing me.”

This effectively diverted Knotty’s mind from his own troubles. “You do? W-Will, you never said!”

“It’s not exactly a pleasant topic of conversation, is it? And to be fair, you didn’t tell me about yours either.” Will gazed down at Knotty, and the expression on his face made Eliza suddenly feel like an intruder.

“I’m not going to press you, Vincent,” he said softly, touching Knotty’s cheek. “This wouldn’t even have to involve, ah, sharing a bed unless you wanted it to. It’s up to you.”

Knotty smiled tremulously and turned his head to lean into Will’s hand. “I’d l-like to share lodgings with you, Will. And – and m-maybe the rest of it, too.” He was blushing again, and so was Will.

Eliza, feeling that she should give them a moment of privacy, stepped back to the counter and leaned over it to dig in the drawers underneath. When she judged that they had had long enough to finish kissing, she turned back with a bottle in each hand. 

“Here. Four nights’ worth of sleeping drops for each of you – and you’re to take them _yourself_ this time, Knotty, not give them to some hapless prison guard. It’s not good for your body to take things like this every night, but this’ll give you a full night’s sleep when you really need it.”

Knotty smiled gratefully at her as he took the bottle. “Thanks, E-Eliza. I’ve been w-wondering what I would do when exams s-start.”

Will accepted his bottle more slowly, an odd look on his face. Eliza thought she recognized it: even now, having someone be spontaneously nice to him threw him off-balance. “Uh, yeah, thanks,” he murmured. “But-?”

“Can’t have my sales clerk falling asleep on the counter, can I?” Eliza replied tartly, answering the question he hadn’t quite asked. “If I’d known you were having trouble sleeping, I’d have given you this sooner. By the way, you’ve got official permission to refill those bottles if you need to – yours and Knotty’s both.”

Will blinked. “I – really? You’d trust me with that?”

“Sure. You fill prescriptions for customers all day; no reason you can’t do it for yourself. I know you’re not going to cheat me.” Eliza’s eye fell on the clock, and she scowled. “Drat. Sorry, you two, but my meeting starts in a half-hour, and I have to finish getting ready. You done cleaning up, Will?”

Will nodded and got to his feet. “We’ll get out of your hair. May I walk you back to the University, sir?” He offered his arm to Knotty with a flourish.

Knotty chuckled and tucked his hand into the crook of Will’s elbow. “Yes, please. Thank you f-for everything, Eliza. I don’t know what I would do without you.”

His stutter had receded again, Eliza was pleased to notice. “Any time,” she said, smiling at him.

Eliza watched them leave, the curly dark head and the wavy brown one bent as close together as their differing heights allowed. They were good for each other, she thought; Will’s enormous confidence (or fake confidence, or whatever it was) helped Knotty to gain some assurance of his own, and Knotty’s sweetness softened Will’s too-polished persona into something more genuine. Despite the nightmares, Knotty seemed happier than he had been in a long time, and she was very glad to see it. 

She wondered if he really would move in with Will, and what would come of it if so. Will wasn’t what she would have pictured if anyone had asked her to describe a long-term partner for her best friend, but she rather thought it might work.

Dismissing romance and its oddities from her mind for the moment, Eliza turned back to the blackboard. Charles still hadn’t stopped twitting her about the incident with the globe, so tonight she would crush him with facts and a well-constructed argument instead of relying on props. Picking up a piece of chalk, she plunged gleefully into her work once more.

**Author's Note:**

> Fun fact: I named the briefly-mentioned Dr. Vane after Harriet Vane, the mystery novelist and amateur detective from Dorothy Sayers' Lord Peter Wimsey mysteries.


End file.
